So, it has been nearly 66 days, or 9 weeks, since we were told that our entire society was being shut down, and we were told that, we, along with our loved ones, must quarantine and socially isolate from the world as we knew it. I don’t know about you, but I’ve moved through a hundred million feelings and thoughts in my head & heart as we dip in to the 3rd month of covid-19 quarantine—shock, disbelief, denial, acceptance, frustration, exhaustion, and sleeplessness to name a few. And one of the few insights I’ve had while on my daily sunrise runs is this: I, me, Sarah Delgado, doesn’t want me or my family to come out of this quarantine going back to the busy, hurried lives that we have carried on.
“Busy” isn’t a badge of honor. Busy and hurried doesn’t sit well with the soul. Not only is busy and hurried not good for my soul, it’s not good for the souls or psyches of others. Busy doesn’t beget love and peace. It only begets irritability, frustration, anger and gray hairs—the complete antithesis of love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness. And being busy and hurried is a surefire way to kill the spiritual and relational life, and not be able to experience true shalom with the Maker or those around us.
Yes, my friend, time is UP. Life is SHORT. And time with our loved ones is even SHORTER. We are here one minute on this earth, and gone the next…. And speeding and rushing and feeling hurried doesn’t add any additional time to our lives or our children’s lives.
What I do know, is there will be many changes to our lives, and like you, I don’t know how or in what ways our lives will change. But what I do know is that I do want my life and relationships with others to look, and feel fundamentally different in the dimension of time once we’re given permission to emerge from this quarantine—what I want is a life where the pace of life shifts in to a much slower gear, where meaningful memories and relationships are deepened, and I spend more time loving, living, and just being with others—whether that’s riding bikes, or taking nature walks with the kids and dog, or having meaningful conversation over a meal together with friends & family.
So, my question to you, what does your relationship with time look like? What did your family’s weekly schedule look like prior to this quarantine? In what ways do you want to approach time, your time, after we are given permission to gradually emerge from this quarantine? How will you value time with your loved ones differently? What decisions will you make in order to encourage a schedule of meaningful and authentic connection with your family, neighbors, and friends? How will you make others feel with your time? And how will you love others with the time you have been given?